Edirne (;
The city is a commercial centre for woven textiles, silks, carpets and agricultural products and has a growing tourism industry. It is the seat of Edirne Province and Edirne District.[ İl Belediyesi , Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 1 March 2023.] Its population is 180,002 (2022).
In the local elections on 31 March 2024, lawyer Filiz Gencan Akin was elected as the new mayor of the city of Edirne, succeeding Recep Gürkan, who had been mayor for 10 years and did not stand for re-election.
Names and etymology
The city was founded and named after the Roman emperor
Hadrian as
Hadrianopolis (
Adrianople in English, ; Ἁδριανούπολις in
Greek language) on the site of the Greek city of
Orestias, which was itself founded on an earlier
Thracians settlement named
Uskudama. The Ottoman name
Edrine (ادرنه) is derived from the Greek name. The name
Adrianople was used in English until the Turkish adoption of the Latin alphabet in 1928, after which
Edirne became the internationally recognised name. In Bulgarian the city is known as Одрин (Odrin).
History
The area around Edirne has been the site of numerous major battles and sieges starting from the days of the
Roman Empire. The vagaries of the border region between Asia and Europe gave rise to Edirne's claim to be the most frequently contested spot on earth.
Roman and Byzantine Period
The city was reestablished by the Roman Emperor
Hadrian on the site of
Orestias (named after its mythological founder
Orestes), which was itself built on a previous Thracian settlement known as
Uskadama,
Uskudama,
Uskodama or
Uscudama.
Hadrian developed it, adorned it with monuments, and changed its name to
Hadrianopolis (
Anglicisation as
Adrianople).
Licinius was defeated here by
Constantine I in 324, and Emperor
Valens was killed by the
Goths here during the Battle of Adrianople in 378.
the Byzantine defeat at the Battle of Versinikia in 813, the city was temporarily seized by Khan Krum of Bulgaria who moved its inhabitants to the Bulgarian lands north of the Danube.
In 1077, a rebellion, led by the usurper Nikephoros Bryennios, occurred in Adrianople against Emperor Michael VII Doukas.
During the period of the Latin Empire of Constantinople, the Crusaders were defeated by the Bulgarian Emperor Kaloyan at the Battle of Adrianople in 1205. In 1206 the Latin regime gave Adrianople and the surrounding area to the Byzantine aristocrat Theodore Branas as a hereditary fief.[Saint-Guillain, G. (1216) Identities and Allegiances in the Eastern Mediterranean after 1204, Routledge, p. 66] Theodore Komnenos, Despot of Epirus, took possession of it in 1227, but three years later was defeated at Klokotnitsa by Emperor Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria. In 1321, Andronikos III set up his base in Adrianople, initiating the First Palaiologan civil war against his grandfather, Emperor Andronikos II.
Ottoman period
In 1362, the Ottoman Turks under Sultan Murad I invaded Thrace and Murad captured Adrianople, probably in 1369 (the date is disputed). The city became "Edirne" in Turkish, reflecting the Turkish pronunciation and Murad moved the Ottoman capital here from Bursa. Mehmed the Conqueror (Sultan Mehmed II) was born in Adrianople, where he came under the influence of dismissed by Taşköprüzade in the Şakaiki Numaniye as 'certain accursed ones of no significance', who were burnt as heretics by Mahmud Pasha.
The city remained the seat of Ottoman power until 1453, when Mehmed II took Constantinople (present-day Istanbul) and moved the capital there. The importance of Edirne to the early Ottomans explains the plethora of early Ottoman mosques, and other monuments that have survived until today although the Eski Sarayı (Old Palace) was largely destroyed, leaving only relatively slight remains. Also, there is evidence of a scriptorium in the Ottoman's Edirne palace during this period.
Uzunköprü Bridge, the world's longest medieval stone bridge, connects Anatolia with the Balkans on the Ergene River and was erected between 1426 and 1443 by the primary architect, Müslihiddin, during the reign of Ottoman Sultan Murad II.
That Adrianople/Edirne continued to hold an important place in Ottoman hearts is reflected in the fact that Sultan Mehmed IV left the Topkapı Palace in Constantinople to die here in 1693.
The wife of the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, spent six weeks in Edirne (then Adrianople) in the spring of 1717 and left an account of her experiences there in her The Turkish Embassy Letters. Wearing Turkish dress, Montagu witnessed the passage of Ahmed III to the mosque, visited the young wife-to-be of his vizier, Damad Ibrahim Pasha and was shown around the Selimiye Mosque.
Edirne was swiftly reconquered by the Ottomans during the Second Balkan War under the leadership of Enver Pasha (who proclaimed himself the "second conqueror of Adrianople" after Murad I) following the collapse of the Bulgarian army in the region.
The entire Armenian population of the city was deported to Syria and Mesopotamia during the Armenian genocide on 27–28 October 1915 and 17–18 February 1916. Their homes and businesses were sold at low prices to Turkish Muslims.
During the Greek War of Independence, the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) and the Balkan Wars (1912–1913), Balkan-Muslims fled to Edirne and became known as Muhacir.
Administrative arrangements
Adrianople was a
sanjak centre during the Ottoman period and was bound to, successively, the
Rumeli Eyalet and
Silistre Eyalet before becoming a provincial capital of the Eyalet of Edirne at the beginning of the 19th century; until 1878, the Eyalet of Adrianople comprised the
of Edirne, Tekfurdağı,
Gelibolu,
Filibe, and
Sliven. After land reforms in 1867, the Eyalet of Adrianople became the Vilayet of Adrianople.
Turkish Republic
Adrianople/Edirne was ceded to Greece by the Treaty of Sèvres in 1920, but recaptured and annexed by Turkey after the Greek defeat at the end of the Greco-Turkish War, also known as the Western Front of the larger Turkish War of Independence, in 1922. Under the Greek administration, Edirne (officially known as Adrianople) was the capital of the Adrianople Prefecture.
From 1934 onwards Edirne was the seat of the Second Inspectorate General, in which an Inspector General governed the provinces of Edirne Province, Çanakkale, Tekirdaĝ and Kırklareli.
Ecclesiastical history
Adrianople (modern-day Edirne,
Turkey) historically served as a religious center for multiple Christian communities. The city was the seat of a Greek Orthodox metropolitan and an Armenian bishop. It was also the center of a Bulgarian diocese, though this was not officially recognized and the diocese was deprived of a bishop. Small communities of Protestants and Latin Catholics—mainly foreigners—were present as well. The Latin Catholics were under the authority of the vicariate-apostolic of Constantinople.
Within the city, the parish of St. Anthony of Padua, run by the Minor Conventuals, operated alongside a girls’ school conducted by the Sisters of Charity of Agram. In the suburb of Karaağaç, there was a Minor Conventual church, a boys’ school managed by the Assumptionists, and a girls’ school run by the Oblates of the Assumption. Mission stations in Tekirdağ and Alexandroupoli maintained schools run by the Minor Conventuals, and Gallipoli had a school managed by the Assumptionists.
Around 1850, from the perspective of the Eastern Catholic Churches, Adrianople was the residence of a Bulgarian vicar-apostolic, overseeing approximately 4,600 Eastern Catholics in the Ottoman Empire province (vilayet) of Thrace, and after 1878, in the Principality of Bulgaria. The Bulgarian Eastern Catholics maintained eighteen parishes or missions, with twenty churches or chapels, thirty-one priests—including six Assumptionists and six Resurrectionists—and eleven schools serving 670 students. In Adrianople proper, only a few United Bulgarians were present, including those served by the Episcopal church of St. Elias and the churches of St. Demetrius and Sts. Cyril and Methodius, the latter served by the Resurrectionists, who also operated a college with ninety students. In Karaağaç, the Assumptionists ran a parish and a seminary with fifty pupils.
Additionally, the statistics for Eastern Catholics included Greek Catholic missions in Malgara (now Malkara) and Daoudili (now Davuteli village in Malkara), with four priests and about 200 faithful, as these missions were administratively part of the Vicariate.
The Roman Catholic diocese of Adrianople was later discontinued and exists today only as a titular metropolitan archbishopric, officially named Hadrianopolis in Haemimonto, to distinguish it from other sees named Hadrianopolis.
In 2018, archaeologists discovered the remains of a Byzantine church in Edirne. Built around 500 AD, it represents an early Byzantine period structure.
Geography
Climate
Edirne has a borderline humid subtropical (
Cfa) and hot-summer Mediterranean climate (
Csa) in the Köppen climate classification, and a temperate
oceanic climate (
Do) in the Trewartha climate classification. Edirne has hot, moderately dry summers and chilly, wet and often snowy winters.
Highest recorded temperature: on 25 July 2007
Lowest recorded temperature: on 14 January 1954
Quarters
Edirne consists of 24 quarters:
[ Mahalle , Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 1 March 2023.]
Attractions
Edirne is famed for its many mosques, medreses and other Ottoman monuments.
Mosques
The Selimiye Mosque, built in 1575 and designed by Turkey's greatest architect,
Mimar Sinan (c. 1489/1490–1588), is the most important monument in the city and became a UNESCO world heritage site in 2011.
It used to have the highest
in Turkey, at before the completion of the Çamlıca Mosque in 2019 which features minarets standing at tall. Sinan himself believed the dome to be higher than that of
Hagia Sophia, the former
Byzantine Empire Orthodox Cathedral in
Istanbul, but modern measuring methods seem to suggest otherwise. Named after Sultan
Selim II (r. 1566–1574) who commissioned it but did not live to see its completion, the mosque is decorated with Turkish marble and magnificent İznik tiles. It is the centre of a considerable complex of contemporary buildings.
Work started on the Eski Cami (Old Mosque) in 1403 but was not completed until 1422. It was designed in what is usually thought of as the Bursa style. Even finer is the Üç Şerefli Mosque (Three-Balconied Mosque) which was built between 1437 and 1447 for Sultan Murad II. It was the largest mosque built in the Ottoman provinces before the conquest of Constantinople. Both these mosques are in the centre of Edirne.
Further away from the centre, the complex of Sultan Beyazid II, built between 1484 and 1488, and has a lovely semi-rural location. It is the most complete surviving mosque complex in Edirne, consisting of an imaret (soup kitchen), darüşşifa (hospital), timarhane (asylum), hospice, tıp medrese (medical school), tabhane (accommodation for dervishes) bakery and assorted depots. Some parts of the complex now house a museum to the history of Islamic medicine.
Edirne Palace
Edirne Palace ( for "New Imperial Palace") in the Sarayiçi quarter, was built in the reign of
Murad II (r. 1421–1444) but was destroyed in 1877, during the Russo-Turkish War. The palace gate and kitchen have since been restored. The
Kasr-ı Adalet ("Justice Castle"), originally built as part of the palace complex, stands intact next to the small
Fatih Bridge over the
Tundzha river.
The splendid appearance of the palace in the late 1460s when it glistened with gold, silver and marble was described by Kritovoulos of İmbros in his
History of Mehmed the Conqueror.
Other religious monuments
Dating back to 1909, the Grand Synagogue of Edirne was restored and re-opened in March 2015.
A Roman Catholic and two Bulgarian Orthodox churches are also to be found in the city.
Other historic monuments
Edirne has three historic covered
: the Kavaflar Arastası (Cobblers Arcade), next to the Selimiye Mosque and constructed to bring in an income to support the külliye; the Bedesten next to the Eski Cami which was supported by the income from the shops; and the Semiz Ali Paşa Çarşısı (Ali Pasha Bazaar, AKA Kapalı Çarşı), another work of
Mimar Sinan dating back to 1568.
The Kavaflar Arastası is the place to come to buy miniature versions of the handmade brooms with mirrors set into them that used to play a part in marriage ceremonies as well as to buy soap in the shape of fruits.
Of the original Roman Hadrianopolis only slight remains of the fortifications survive near the so-called Macedonian Tower,
Edirne Museum (Edirne Müzesi) contains collections of local archaeology and ethnography. In the grounds outside can be seen an example of the sort of dolmen to be seen at nearby Lalapaşa.
In the town centre stand the Rüstem Pasha Caravanserai (1560–61) and Ekmekcioğlu Caravanserai (1609–10), designed to accommodate travellers – in the case of the Rüstem Pasha by Mimar Sinan – in the 16th and 17th centuries. The Rüstem Pasha Caravanserai now serves as the Kervansaray Hotel.
The Balkan Wars Memorial Cemetery is located close to the ruins of the Edirne Palace, with an Unknown Soldier monument featuring an Ottoman soldier in front of its entrance.
The Maritsa and Tundzha rivers, which flow around west and south of the city, are crossed by elegant arched bridges dating back to early Ottoman times.
The historic Karaağaç railway station has been restored to house Trakya University's Faculty of Fine Arts.
Cuisine
The town is famous in Turkey for the Edirne fried liver.
(breaded and
deep frying liver) is often served with a side of cacık, a dish of diluted
strained yogurt with chopped cucumber.
Festivals
The Kırkpınar
oil-wrestling tournament is held every year in late June or early July.
Kakava, an international festival celebrated by the Romani people in Turkey is held on 5–6 May each year.
Bocuk Gecesi is a festival of Balkan origin celebrated in mid-January on what is expected to be the coldest day of the year. It is a sort of Turkish take on Halloween.
Economy
Edirne's economy largely depends on agriculture. 73% of the working population work in agriculture, fishing, forests and hunting. The lowlands are productive. Corn, sugar beets and sunflowers are the leading crops. Melons, watermelons, rice, tomatoes, eggplants and viniculture are important. Textiles, cross-border trade, and education, with Thracian University, are also significant contributors to the city's vibrant and developing economy.
Education
Universities
-
Trakya University, which is linked with Lörrach University through the Erasmus programme of the EU.
High schools
-
Beykent Educational Institutions
-
80th Year of Republic Anatolian High School (80. Yıl Cumhuriyet Anadolu Lisesi in Turkish)
-
Edirne Anatolian Teacher Training High School (Edirne Anadolu Öğretmen Lisesi in Turkish: It has been transformed into Edirne Social Sciences High School)
-
Edirne Anatolian Technical High School (Edirne Anadolu Teknik Lisesi in Turkish)
-
Edirne Beykent High School of Science (Özel Edirne Beykent Fen Lisesi)
-
Edirne Beykent High School of Anatolian (Özel Edirne Beykent Anadolu Lisesi)
-
Edirne High School (Anatolian High School) (Edirne Lisesi in Turkish)
-
Edirne Ilhami Ertem High School (Edirne İlhami Ertem Lİsesi in Turkish)
-
Edirne Industrial Vocational High School (Edirne Endüstri Meslek Lisesi in Turkish)
-
Edirne Milli Piyango Trade Profession High School (Edirne Milli Piyango Ticaret Meslek Lisesi)
-
Edirne Suleyman Demirel Science & Maths High School (Edirne Fen Lisesi in Turkish)
-
Edirne Yildirim Anatolian High School (Edirne Anadolu Lisesi – Yıldırım Anadolu Lisesi in Turkish)
-
Edirne Fine Arts High School (Edirne Güzel Sanatlar Lisesi in Turkish)
Gallery
boy and girl in front of the Muradiye Mosque]]
Twin cities
Notable people
- Sultans
-
Bayezid I (1360—1403), Ottoman sultan from 1389 to 1402
-
Mahmud I (1696—1754), Ottoman sultan from 1730 to 1754
-
Mehmed the Conqueror (1432–1481), Ottoman sultan who conquered Constantinople (today Istanbul)
-
Mustafa II (1664–1703), Ottoman sultan from 1695 to 1703
-
Osman III (1699—1757), Ottoman sultan from 1754 to 1757
-
Şahin Giray (1745–1787), last khan of Crimea
- Historical
-
Caleb Afendopolo (before 1430–1499), Karaite polyhistor
-
Athanasius I of Constantinople (1230—1310), Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople
-
Athanasius V of Jerusalem (died 1844), Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem
-
Hagop Baronian (1843—1891), Ottoman Armenian writer, satirist, educator
-
Elijah Bashyazi (c. 1420—1490), Karaite Jewish hakham
-
Theodore Branas, Byzantine general
-
Nikephoros Bryennios (ethnarch), Byzantine general
-
Abraham ben Raphael Caro, 18th-century Ottoman rabbi
-
Karpos Papadopoulos (1790s–1871), Member of the Filiki Eteria
-
Anthim the Iberian (1650–1716), Georgians theologian, scholar, calligrapher, philosopher; assassinated by Ottomans in Edirne.
-
Theoklitos Polyeidis (1698–1759), Greek scholar, teacher, translator, priest and monk
-
Dionysius V of Constantinople (1820–1891), Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople
-
Joseph Halévy (1827—1917), Ottoman-born Jewish-French Orientalist and traveler
-
Abdulcelil Levni (died 1732), Ottoman court painter and miniaturist
-
Neşâtî (?–1674), Ottoman poet
-
Georgi Valkovich (1833—1892), Bulgarian physician, diplomat and politician
-
Yirmisekiz Mehmed Çelebi (died 1732), Ottoman Georgians statesman and ambassador
-
Stefanos Koumanoudis (1818–1899), Greek archaeologist, university teacher, writer and translator
-
Charles XII, Swedish king who stayed in the city for most of 1713
["Adrianopel" in Nordisk familjebok (2nd edition, 1904)] during his exile in the Ottoman Empire
-
Baháʼu'lláh, founder of the Baháʼí Faith, lived in Edirne from 1863 to 1868. He was exiled here by the Ottoman Empire before being banished to the Ottoman penal colony in Akka. Referred to Adrianople in his writings as the "Land of Mystery".
- Contemporary
-
Cem Adrian (born 1980), Turkish singer-songwriter, author, producer and film director
-
Şevket Süreyya Aydemir (1897—1976), Turkish writer, intellectual, economist, historian
-
Atılay Canel (born 1955), Turkish football coach
-
Cavit Erdel (1884—1933), Ottoman Army officer and Turkish Army general
-
Hüsrev Gerede (1884–1962), Ottoman and Turkish Army officer, politician and diplomat
-
Avra Theodoropoulou (1880–1963), Greek musician and activist
-
Ragıp Gümüşpala (1897–1964), 11th Chief of the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces
-
Acun Ilıcalı (born 1969), Turkish television personality and producer
-
Haşim İşcan (1898–1968), Turkish high school teacher, province governor and the first elected mayor of Istanbul
-
Kemal Kerinçsiz (born 1960), Turkish ultra-nationalist lawyer
-
Özlem Kolat (born 1984), Turkish classical clarinet player
-
Michael Petkov (1850–1921), Bulgarian Eastern Catholic priest
-
Muharrem Korhan Yamaç (born 1972), Paralympics, world and European champion disabled sport shooter
-
Nikos Zachariadis (1903—1973), General Secretary of the Communist Party of Greece
See also
-
List of battles of Adrianople
-
List of treaties of Adrianople
-
Trakya University
Notes
Further reading
External links
